FEAR OF FALLING Heel raises balance exercise We just returned from a vacation where I experienced two falls—one on a wet stairway and the other on a slippery path. Two falls are definitely two too many. While I’m aware that balance tends to decline with age, I’m now determined to start exercises to combat this inevitability. As a fellow senior, you might also want to address any fear of falling. Fortunately, I had no trouble finding quick and easy exercises. The latest Harvard Health Letter (September 1, 2024) features an article by Executive Editor Heidi Godman titled Fit Balance Exercises...
WHY HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP IS HARMFUL We know we should cut back on added sugars in general (refer to my October 2019 post: Added Sugar = Added Health Risks). But we’ve been advised time and again to especially steer clear of high-fructose corn syrup. High-fructose corn syrup is made from cornstarch, which is initially broken down into glucose. Then, enzymes are introduced to convert a significant portion of this glucose into fructose. But why should we be especially concerned about this product? I found answers in a December 1, 2020, Cleveland Clinic article titled Avoid the Hidden Dangers of High...
IS BOTTLED WATER SAFE TO DRINK? If you’re like me, you probably don’t think twice about grabbing a plastic bottle of water when you’re away from home. After all, it’s a healthier choice than drinking a bottle or can of soda. Bottled water keeps you hydrated without adding calories, sugar, or other additives to your diet. However, while drinking water is beneficial, purchasing it in single-use plastic bottles presents a problem: too many of these bottles end up in landfills or oceans, contributing to pollution. You may have also heard about the presence of microscopic plastic particles in bottled water....
ALL ABOUT THE LATEST ANTI-AMYLOID ALZHEIMER’S DRUG On July 2, the FDA approved a new Alzheimer’s drug called donanemab, which will be marketed under the brand name Kisunla. Developed by Eli Lilly, this drug is an antibody designed to remove beta-amyloid plaques that accumulate in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. It is similar to another drug, lecanemab (brand name Leqembi), made by Eisai and Biogen. (Refer to my August 2023 post Lecanemab: the new Alzheimer’s Drug.) This marks the third amyloid-clearing Alzheimer’s drug approved in the last three years. In 2021, the FDA approved Biogen’s aducanumab (sold as Aduhelm), despite...
WHICH PAIN RELIEF PILL WORKS BETTER? What do you reach for when you have a headache or a sore throat? If you’re like me you just grab whatever’s handy—acetaminophen (like Tylenol), ibuprofen (like Advil), or naproxen (like Aleve). Yet, if three different options are available, doesn’t it make sense that one pain-relief pill would be more effective than the others for specific ailments? Well, yes. After reviewing several online articles about pain relievers, I found one that provided straightforward recommendations for various types of pain. Here are excerpts from the October 15, 2020 Iowa Clinic post by Matthew Sutton, MD,...
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) IN CARDIOLOGY I wrote a post back on June 16, 2023, titled Can Your Doc Be Replaced by AI? In it, Anthony L. Kormaroff, MD, Editor in Chief of the Harvard Health Letter was asked if artificial intelligence will replace doctors? He answered, “Not in my lifetime, fortunately.” Your doc will certainly stay in business. Nevertheless, he or she will become much more dependent on AI for disease detection. The biggest example is perhaps that A.I. tools are now holding promise in uncovering serious heart problems much sooner than in the past. The cardiology team at the...
GOT WATER? Today, I began to read an article in the latest Harvard Medical School Health Letter that offered some surprising information: the old recommendation of drinking 8 cups of water a day is not sufficient. Instead, we should aim for about 11 cups per day for women and 15 cups per day for men. My initial reaction was that this is significantly more than I currently consume. However, after reading the entire article, I realized I might not be falling as short as I thought. Here are excerpts from the July 1, 2024 post by Heidi Godman, Executive Editor,...
BEAT THE HEAT Back in December and January, I’d wait until the warmest part of the day—usually mid afternoon—to go jogging. But now that summer is here, I jog early in the morning to beat the heat. I thought I knew all the necessary precautions for running (or in my case, jogging) in the heat, but I realized I didn’t. I recently came across an online article in Runner’s World by Jennifer Van Allen, updated on April 25, 2024, titled Everything to Know About Running in the Heat, which provided several new-to-me tips on preventing common heat-related ailments. (I think...
A PARADOXICAL KIND OF INSOMNIA Despite feeling like I hadn’t slept for much of last night, my Fitbit tracker indicated I’d actually gotten about seven hours of sleep. Thankfully, this discrepancy doesn’t occur often—perhaps once a month. I’ve since learned that this phenomenon is known as paradoxical insomnia. A recent write-up in Scientific American’s online Today in Science, titled “Up All Night,” published on June 10, 2024, discusses this condition. Here are some highlights from that short article: People with paradoxical insomnia (also called subjective insomnia) report that they’ve been awake all night, even when the polysomnography, the gold standard for...
SALMONELLA: THE ALL-TOO-COMMON FOOD POISONING It seems like every month brings news of another salmonella outbreak. This month, it was fresh cucumbers; last month, backyard poultry; in April, organic basil; and in March, charcuterie meats. The list of culprits for this all-too-common food poisoning goes on. I’ve come down with it several times while traveling abroad—from ceviche in Mexico, ground beef in Morocco, and lettuce in India. However, many people contract it right in their American hometown. (You may have experienced a salmonella infection without realizing it, as some cases are asymptomatic.) I wanted to learn more about this common...
